2008 Woodie Awards
Living The NFL Life
Former UCM receiver comes to Kansas City as 49er
Mike Jeffries/Muleskinner
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: Sports
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The former University of Central Missouri football standout, now a San Francisco 49er, played his first pro game at Arrowhead Stadium Sunday, an hour Northwest of where he played his college ball.
Walker waited patiently for his dislocated shoulder to heal, an injury that sidelined him for the first three regular season games of the year.
Sunday marked the first chance for Walker to run out of the tunnel in uniform alongside his team for a regular season NFL game.
"It was good just to get back with the team," Walker said. "It was good to feel the excitement of the season. The atmosphere was good; the fans were really into the game."
Unfortunately for Walker, his first game ended in a 41-0 loss to the Chiefs, and he never got a chance to play a down.
"If I don't play, I'm here to cheer my team on," said the former UCM wide receiver. "If they ask me to play, I'll be ready and I'll play."
And it would be beneficial for the 49ers to ask him to play. Walker's 6-foot-2-inch frame surrounded by 240 pounds of muscle make him a prototypical NFL tight end. Tack on 4.4 speed and hands that can snatch whatever ball is thrown his way, and you've got something special.
"Delanie is a special talent," said his former head coach at UCM, Willie Fritz. "He ran great for the scouts [at the NFL combine]. He can block; he can catch the ball in space."
His talent is a little untapped, and I am sure his coaches are going to figure out how to make him an even better player."
His talent has always caught the eye of scouts and coaches. Walker, a California native, was a few academic grades away from playing alongside Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart at the University of Southern California.
"We heard about Delanie while he was at community college in California," Fritz said. "We weren't the only ones who heard about him. A lot of people were talking about Delanie Walker. We convinced him to come to [UCM] and told him that if he was good, the pros would notice just as much in Warrensburg as they would at USC."
And the pros did notice. San Francisco drafted Walker in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL draft in April.
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